Sardines: All in Good Fun
by Princess Adrenaline
Summary: A game of Sardines brings Kid and Maka to discuss some personal subjects. What's really going on, though? Why has no one found them even though they're talking? All is revealed with a twist.


"Alright, minions!" Black*Star called out to his friends who were assembled in a pow-wow in Soul and Maka's living room, save for Black*Star and Kid. "If we don't do something tonight, I'm going to tear this place apart!" He laughed evilly.

Maka twitched in irritation. _I can't concentrate on my book with this damned 'God' making demands! _"How about you shut up? It's spring break; nobody wants to be stuck in-"

"-this fucking desert," Soul finished, adding on, "But none of us had plans, Maka. I think Black*Star here has a pretty decent idea to spend this moment of boredom doing something _fun._"

Kid glanced at Patty, who appeared to be in deep thought. "Patty, is this picture frame straight?" For the past fifteen minutes, the grim reaper had been trying to perfect a hanging piece of wall art, making his friends almost twice as irritated.

"Sardines!" Patty cried out, bumping her right fist into her other open palm. Her eyes were full of determination.

Tsubaki tilted her head. "Excuse me?"

Liz looked up with lazy eyes; she'd been boredly painting her nails. "Oh, that's right. Whenever we get bored at home, we play Sardines." She hesitated in thought before an evil grin crossed her face. "This could be very fun, actually."

Soul rolled his eyes. "Since we've got nothing else to do, why not? What are the rules, Patty?"

The psychotic blond smiled brightly. "Okay! One person hides in a spot, and everyone else goes looking for that person!"

Maka closed her book with a sigh. _I won't be getting any more knowledge into my head tonight... _"So it's reverse hide-and-go-seek, right?" she guessed.

Patty shook her head. "Nope! Because once someone finds that person, they have to hide _with_ them! This goes on until one person is left alone trying to find the group! Loser has to become the next sardine!"

"Hence the name," Kid stated. He closed his eyes, slumping in defeat. "The girls always leave me to be the last one. An uneven loser." Tears comically poured down his cheeks as if he had already lost.

"Ugh," Soul grumbled before standing up. "Alright, then! Since you don't want to be a loser, how about you be the sardine, Kid?"

Kid's eyes brightened. "You mean that!"

Black*Star pouted. "No fair! I want to lead-"

Kid was already gone.

"DAMN HIM," Black*Star cursed, storming around the living room. "This game has begun!"

Maka sighed, standing up and abandoning her novel._ These guys must be idiots. I can easily detect Kid with my Soul Per- _Her eyes widened when she dug into her power. _No. No way. He... hid his soul! _"DAMN HIM," she echoed, silently cursing herself for not expecting this from a Shinigami.

_Now I really have to win!_

Five minutes later, still nobody had found the sardine. Maka was amazed at Kid's power. _Is it possible that he's capable of using Soul Protect?... No, that would just disguise his soul as human. It's something different. He knows I can try to detect him. _"Damn," she muttered, passing a bewildered Tsubaki as she entered the one place she hadn't scoured: her own bedroom.

A seething aura arose from her being. "If he's in here, I'll murder him," she hissed. Nobody dared touch her room, save for the girls, who had special permission. Tsubaki was much too polite, though, and Liz had given up on the gamr long ago, going back to her nails. As for Patty, the psycho spent her time creating a giraffe out of recyclables in the kitchen.

She cracked her neck, kneeling down to look under her bed; nothing but her storage boxes. She checked her dresser (God forbid he was in there); nothing but clothing. _Something's not right... _Because it was nighttime, it would be hard to look for such small details as a person, _especially _one with a jet-black appearance. _My only hope is to find his eyes. Bring it on._

Maka found her resolve, crawling on the floor. Heavy downpour slapped her window, the trees echoing the movements of the spring rain. _It's so... dark, _she realized, swallowing a lump in her throat. _Just... a few more minutes and I'll find someone-_

A particularly loud crash of lightning frightened Maka. She opened her mouth to scream, but something suddenly covered her mouth from behind, yanking her body backward. Based on her previous location, she figured her pursuer was taking her into the closet. The quiet closing of a door confirmed her suspicion. "S...Soul?" she whispered, eyes shut tight as she waited for her savior to respond.

"Sorry," a different voice murmured. "It's just me. If you'd screamed, my hiding place would've been obvious."

Maka registered her situation for a moment. "Kid?... I didn't lose?" she whispered.

"That's right."

"Oh. Um... I see," Maka croaked, trying to best to hide her fear of thunderstorms. Since her closet was small and cramped, she ended up squeezed in next to Kid, their sides pushing against one another's.

"Kid?" She looked over at her friend. His bright amber eyes could've replaced the sun as they stayed blank, staring into her own green orbs.

"What's up, Maka?"

She set her jaw, unhappily casting her eyes down at her knees. "I'm going to kill you when we get out of here."

"I know."

"And you'll have to admit defeat for taking this off-limits area."

"I know."

"Then why'd you take it?" Maka hissed, irritated with her friend's calm answers. "You knew I'd be pissed, you knew you'd get disqualified, yet here you are, getting-"

Another strike of lightning took a frightened victim. Maka clutched desperately onto Kid's arm, her tears staining the fabric covering his broad shoulder. _This is so pathetic, _she thought miserably.

Kid awkwardly shuffled to the end of Maka's closet, keeping quiet. "It's not like you to be scared of anything... yet thunderstorms terrify you?" he asked very softly.

Maka shoved him away, crossing her arms and looking away defiantly. "I said no such thing," she muttered.

"Your grip said otherwise."

"Shut up," she mumbled, her voice sad. _This is so lame. I fight monsters all the time without so much as a flinch. But storms scare the living hell out of me._

"Perhaps it's because storms are natural," he pondered, as if reading her mind. "No matter what you do, you cannot stop the rain."

Maka looked down, slumping. "So there's nothing you're afraid of," she guessed.

"If you think even a Shinigami can evade fear, you know nothing."

"You know what, Kid?" Maka raised her voice. "Maybe I _do_ know nothing! How am I supposed to-"

Kid slapped his hand over her mouth. "Shh..."

No sound. Both released their breaths. Maka pushed his hand away. "How am I supposed to know anything that goes on?" she finished.

The Shinigami thought this over. "Losing loved ones," he answered finally. He looked over at his friend who stared back with a confused expression. "That's my biggest fear."

Maka blinked. "Really?"

"Of course. When Gopher planned to assassinate you, I was still being held hostage by Noah. I was helpless and angry with myself." He clenched his fists.

Maka looked down. _He sounds really frustrated... was he that worried about me? _"It wasn't your fault. Besides, I'm alive today, right?"

In the dark, she couldn't see his smile. "Right. I just have to trust that Soul will do his part and protect you if something like that happens again."

"I have to disagree," Maka whispered. "Soul's done enough to protect me. I'd rather die than see his blood splattered."

Kid shrugged. "We all have our opinions." He hesitated. "Hey, it's been awhile since the game started."

Maka thought it over. "You're right... and we haven't heard anything." Standing up, she pushed aside clothes dangling from hangers. Taking a deep breath, she turned the knob on her closet, shoving it open._ Weird. The door's a lot heavier than I remember..._

What she opened the door to was her friends crashing to the floor. Soul and Liz were rubbing their heads; Patty was laughing; Tsubaki was blushing while crawling away; Black*Star jumped to his feet. "WHAT THE HELL!" Maka yelled angrily.

Soul turned his head to Liz. "Five bucks."

The Thompson sister threw a glare at Kid before handing her friend a bill. "Damn."

Maka seethed. "What the hell is going on here!"

Patty laughed. "Soul and Liz had a bet that you two would kiss! Kya-ha-hah!"

The young Meister's aura darkened as she smiled at Soul. Behind it was a dangerous fury.

Soul backed up. "Whoa! I didn't bet on it!" He pointed at his partner-in-crime. "She's the one who thought it would happen!"

"Thanks for throwing me under the bus!" Liz hissed.

Black*Star crossed his arms. "Liz swore that it would happen, so I agreed to restrain myself from winning! BUT NOTHING HAPPENED!"

Maka's eye twitched. "Were you all listening in on the conversation?" She turned to Tsubaki, whom she deemed as the most innocent. "Even you?"

The dark-haired ninja fumbled with her thumbs. "I-I didn't want to ruin anything that could possibly happen," she mumbled, her embarrassed expression obvious. "Um... we did sort of listen..."

"Would never happen. We're just friends." Maka looked over at Liz, still smiling with anger. "So you thought you could escape my wrath because you're my friend?"

Liz swallowed. "I honestly thought you two would-"

"Wrong answer." In a half-second, Maka had grabbed the Bible and smashed the scribe into the Thompson's cranium.

Black*Star sighed. "This is boring," he muttered. "A total failure. C'mon, let's think of another game."

Kid twitched. "Wait."

Everyone turned to him. "What's wrong?" Maka asked, raising a brow.

The Shinigami narrowed his eyes at Liz. "How much money do you have now?"

Liz blinked. "Uh, three dollars."

Kid cursed quietly. "That means you had eight dollars to begin with! I can't allow you to have only three dollars!"

Liz shrugged. "What can you do? Soul won the bet. I had to respect that."

"What was the exact bet?"

The eldest Thompson looked over at Soul, who sighed before explaining. "'If they kiss in the closet, you give me five dollars,'" he quoted Liz. "'If they don't, I'll pay you.'"

Kid rested a hand on Maka's shoulder, stepping back and bringing her with him so they were back in the closet.

_What the...? _Maka thought, looking up at her friend with a confused expression.

"Excuse me," Kid murmured, leaning down and planting a kiss on her unsuspecting lips. It was very brief, so her reaction time was slow.

Maka felt dizzy when he pulled away. She heard Black*Star and Patty laughing and Liz snickering._ It was just because of the bet,_ she reminded herself, lifting a hand to touch her mouth. "Kid..."

"...Yes?"

She twitched, using the Bible to hit him firmly. "That's for violating my feelings," she murmured, smiling. The young blond started to laugh genuinely. "Well, it was kind of a fun game."

Turning to Black*Star, Maka looked at him with inquiring eyes. "What's next?"


End file.
